BUFFALO, N.Y. — Ali Rinfrette recorded a game-high 24 points, two other players scored in double-figures, and the Pitt-Bradford women’s basketball team won its third straight game Wednesday night, routing D’Youville, 79-50.

After surrendering 16 first-quarter points, the Panthers turned up the defensive pressure over the final 30 minutes to turn a four-point contest into a blowout.

Leading by one early in the second quarter, Brittany Watts led Pitt-Bradford on a 12-3 scoring run to build a 32-22 advantage. Watts accounted for eight of the 12 points, including the last four, and she scored all 12 of her points in the opening half.

A D’Youville three-pointer trimmed the lead to 32-27, but the Panthers clamped down on defense, holding the Spartans without a field goal over the final 3:09 of the half. Pitt-Bradford ripped off 10 straight points during that span, including eight by Rinfrette, to lead by 15 at the break.

The Panthers continued to pour it on in the second half, pushing their lead to 29 points before the final horn sounded. Defensively, Pitt-Bradford was even better over the final 20 minutes, limiting the Spartans to just five made baskets. D’Youville shot an abysmal 17 percent from the floor in the second half.

Pitt-Bradford surrendered just 15 made baskets for the game, a season-best, and held the Spartans to 26 percent shooting overall. D’Youville mustered just eight made field goals over the final three quarters, and the bulk of the Spartans’ scoring came at the free throw line, where they were 15-19.

The Panthers shot 37 percent from the floor and bested the Spartans at the stripe by going 18-23. Pitt-Bradford outrebounded D’Youville by seven and scored 25 points off 22 Spartan turnovers.

Rinfrette finished 9-11 from the floor, matching Watts’ record-setting performance from Saturday. The two teammates now share the second-highest single-game shooting percentage (81.8) in Pitt-Bradford history. Kaserra Owens netted a double-double of 12 points and 13 rebounds, her second this season in two matchups with the Spartans, and Darien Lantz had a team-high five steals

Casey Stringer and Stephanie Maciag each registered two blocks off the bench, and eight different Panthers recorded an assist.

Pitt-Bradford improves to 12-8 on the season and 9-4 in the AMCC. The Blue and Gold will host their second annual “Teal There’s a Cure” game Saturday at 1 p.m. against Mount Aloysius, raising awareness for ovarian cancer.

PITT-BRADFORD (79)

Rinfrette 9-4-4-24, Watts 4-4-6-12, Owens 6-0-1-12, Maciag 1-6-6-8, Lantz 2-1-2-6, Stringer 2-0-0-6, Ragin 1-3-4-5, Colebert 1-0-0-3, Guengerich 1-0-0-3, Collins 0-0-0-0. Totals 27-18-23-79.

D’YOUVILLE (50)

Korona 4-3-4-12, Simone 2-6-8-12, Magee 3-0-0-8, Smith 1-4-5-6, June 2-0-0-4, Howard 2-0-0-4, Evan 1-0-0-2, Cochrane 0-2-2-2, Campbell 0-0-0-0. Totals 15-15-19-50.

Halftime: Pitt-Bradford 42-27

Three-point FGs: Pitt-Bradford – Stringer 2, Rinfrette 2, Lantz 1, Colebert 1, Guengerich 1; D’Youville – Simone 2, Magee 2, Korona 1.

Pitt-Bradford Men Hang on to Defeat Spartans

BUFFALO, N.Y. — D’Youville missed a game-tying three-pointer in the final seconds, and the Pitt-Bradford men’s basketball team held on to defeat the Spartans, 72-69, Wednesday night.

With the miss, the Panthers avoided squandering a 17-point halftime lead and earned its second straight AMCC victory to improve to 8-5 in the league. Coupled with Hilbert’s loss to La Roche tonight, the Panthers jumped to fifth in the standings and moved within a game of fourth-place.

The Spartans scored 44 points in the second half, whittling the deficit to three with 40 seconds remaining. On the Panthers’ next possession, Evan Greening misfired from three, and D’Youville grabbed the defensive rebound.

Out of a called timeout, the Spartans’ Darrius Hartzog got free for a game-tying shot from long-range, but he was off the mark, allowing the Panthers to escape.

D’Youville outscored Pitt-Bradford 28-12 over the final 10:19 to have a chance to force overtime. The Panthers missed 13 of their final 16 shots and went more than six minutes without a field goal. It was a stark contrast from the first 30 minutes in which the Panthers thoroughly dominated.

Pitt-Bradford shot 46 percent in the opening half and forced 14 turnovers, building an 18-point cushion midway through the frame. D’Youville particularly struggled from three, going 2-15 in the first 20 minutes, and trailed 42-27 at the break.

A 7-0 Spartan scoring run trimmed the Panthers’ margin to nine at the 16:32 mark, but Jon Haenel drilled a triple two possessions later to push the advantage back to double-digits. Fateem Brockington’s jumper midway through the half made it 57-41, yet the Spartans were not done, hitting a three seconds later to spark their closing flurry.

Pitt-Bradford shot 39 percent from the field and was 16-24 from the stripe. The Panthers preserved their lead over the final 10 minutes by going 9-11 from the line. D’Youville outrebounded the Blue and Gold by 14 and scored 21 second-chance points. The Spartan bench accounted for 27 points compared to just Pitt-Bradford’s two.

Greening finished with a game-high 26 points on 12-18 shooting and pulled in 16 rebounds. Christian Kelly-Perkins and Brockington each had 17 points apiece, and Brockington handed out a team-high five assists.

“Glad we hung on for the road win,” head coach Britt Moore said. “The Spartan Dome is always a hard place to play, and we got lucky to escape.

“We look forward to playing back at home Saturday in front of the home fans.”

Pitt-Bradford jumps to 10-9 on the season and hosts Mount Aloysius on Saturday at 3 p.m.

PITT-BRADFORD (72)

Greening 12-2-3-26, Kelly-Perkins 4-7-9-17, Brockington 6-4-4-17, Welch 2-3-3-7, Haenel 1-0-1-3, Niedermeyer 1-0-2-2, Kinsey 0-0-2-0, Atkinson 0-0-0-0, Harris 0-0-0-0, Tennies 0-0-0-0, Sutton 0-0-0-0, Reigel 0-0-0-0, Dahlstrand 0-0-0-0. Totals 26-16-24-72.

D’YOUVILLE (69)

VanDuluitgaarden 3-7-10-13, Socha 4-4-6-12, Rosales 2-5-6-9, VanAuken 3-1-2-7, Kunelius 2-0-0-6, Hartzog 1-2-2-5, Blask 2-0-0-5, Heard 2-1-2-5, Salinas 2-0-0-5, Nwaekeke 1-0-0-2, Ward 0-0-0-0, Plummer 0-0-0-0. Totals 22-20-28-69.

Halftime: Pitt-Bradford 42-25

Three-point FGs: Pitt-Bradford – Kelly-Perkins 2, Brockington 1, Haenel 1; D’Youville – Kunelius 2, Hartzog 1, Blask 1, Salinas 1.